Body Language
by RAC
Summary: Willow receives an envlope full of pictures of Oz with another woman. She goes beyond hurt to vengeful.


****

Body Language

Willow couldn't believe her eyes. She flipped through the pictures again. So much skin… Skin she recognized. Skin she never wanted to see. Tears streamed down her cheeks. She picked up the envelope again and looked at it, hoping that there would be some clue as to the identity of the person who had left these horrible images for her. She flipped it over and over in her hands. No matter which angle she used, and no matter how many times she turned it, nothing new appeared on the envelope. The only thing written there was her name.

She sat on the edge of her bed and flipped through the pictures again, looking for something that would prove that they were fake. When she didn't find anything, she threw the pictures across the room and tore the envelope to shreds, sobbing the whole time. She sat there, staring at the torn shreds of paper in her hands, for what seemed like hours. She finally made a decision.

***

"Hey," said Faith as she tapped Oz on his shoulder. He turned to look at her. The smile on her face told him everything he needed to know. He looked over at Devon, who had been helping him get things ready for the band's gig that night. Devon looked from Oz to Faith and then back to Oz. He winked.

"Go ahead and go. I think I can finish this alone," he told them.

"Thanks!" exclaimed Oz. He stood up, dropped the spool of speaker wire, and turned to Faith. "So, what are the plans for tonight?"

"We're going to go have a little fun in the cemetery," Faith replied.

"Slaying?" asked Oz.

  
"Hardly," said Faith as she wrapped her arm around Oz's shoulder. "I was thinking we could do something with a little less violence. Besides B's got the patrol tonight."

"Ah," said Oz, as he placed his arm around Faith's waist and the pair of them left The Bronze.

***

"You can't be serious! Willow, think about this!" argued Buffy. Willow was sitting on the bed, her hands folded in her lap. Buffy thought about how her demeanor was completely opposite of her tone. The things she was saying had nothing to do with the innocent way she sat there. Willow looked up at her and, as if reading her mind, defended herself.

"I have thought about it. I am done playing the sweet innocent schoolgirl. What they have done to me is beyond forgiveness. The anger has strangled the heartache, Buffy. I can't think straight. All I know is… They have to pay for what they did to me," explained Willow. She stood up and walked over to the door. She turned back to Buffy, and Buffy fell onto the bed, shocked by the transformation in her friend. Willow's eyes were filled with hatred, and her face was twisted into a horrible grimace. "I'm warning you, Buffy. Do _not_ interfere!"

The door slammed shut, and Buffy sat on the bed, still in shock. She had known that Willow was upset. Willow had never sounded so sad on the phone before. Buffy had rushed over to her friend's house, hoping to cheer her up. Instead, she found Willow sitting calmly on the bed, explaining in calm, controlled tones that someone had left an envelope full of pictures in her locker. All of the pictures showed Faith and Oz making out. Only, they were more graphic than what "making out" suggested. It was no wonder that Willow was angry.

Buffy looked around the room, still not able to process everything that she had learned. Her eyes fell on a book that had fallen off the bed. She bent over and picked it up. She flipped it over and gasped. Although she couldn't read the language in which the book had been written, the pictures gave her a general idea of what she was looking at. It was a spell. And, if Buffy didn't hurry, there wouldn't be anything left of Oz and Faith by the time Willow was finished.

***

"Tag!" squealed Faith as she tapped Oz on the shoulder and then ducked behind a tree. She was glad that they had come across the park on the way to the cemetery. It was a much nicer environment for the activities she had planned. She took a deep breath and launched herself across the park. After she had gotten across the merry-go-round, she pushed it as hard as she could, making it spin furiously as she turned and continued her journey. She had just about reached the swings when she was knocked to the ground.

"You're it!" called Oz as he jumped to his feet and took off.

"Oh!" cried Faith. "So, you wanna play dirty, huh?" She stood up and dusted herself off. She went to her bag and pulled out a bottle water. She twisted the top off and took a sip. She was about to put the lid back on it when she got an idea. Her smile was Oz's only warning. 

"Time to play," she said. She jumped into the air, landing less than three feet from Oz. She took the bottle and sprayed its contents all over Oz. "Tag," she said sweetly as she dropped the bottle. Oz stood there, looking at her. The look on his face made her giggle. Then, he smiled and tackled her again. She didn't put up a fight. As he started kissing her, she reached down and started undressing him.

***

"Thank you. Come again," said the woman behind the counter as she handed Willow the bag.

"You never know," said Willow as she turned and left the magic shop. She had only taken two steps before someone bumped into her.

"Oh, sorry," said Xander. Then, he recognized her. "W-Will? What are you doing here?"

"Buying some supplies," Willow told him. She looked at him, and realized that he seemed nervous. "What's up?"

"Huh? Oh, nothing. I…" He grabbed her arm and pulled her over next to the building. "I… I just wanted to get Anya a little something, but… Well, I don't know if you are aware, but… She isn't exactly the easiest person to shop for, you know?"

"Really?" asked Willow, her voice so full of sarcasm that she was shocked when Xander didn't pick up on it.

"Yeah. I mean, I can't get her just anything, you know?"

  
"I see. Well, I don't really know Anya very well. Maybe you could try jewelry?"

"Oh! Thanks Will! You're a lifesaver!" exclaimed Xander. He leaned forward and kissed her on the cheek. Then, without another word, he turned and raced off. Willow shook her head and turned the opposite direction. She had some things she had to get done in order for her revenge to be complete.

***

Faith was happy. She didn't think she could have been happy with Oz, but she was. Their first intimate encounter had been more or less an accident. She had just finished taking out a nest of vampires, and he had just finished performing at The Bronze. It was pure chance that they had even met up, but it didn't take either of them long to make the most of the meeting. She did the math in her head, and was shocked to discover that it had been two weeks ago. It didn't seem as though they had been together that long. She pressed her body closer to his and kissed him gently on the cheek.

"Thank you," she told him.

"No, thank you," he replied. Then, he sat up quickly. "Damn! The band! We're supposed to be playing tonight!" 

"You… You forgot about the band?" asked Faith. She knew how important his music was to him. The fact that he had forgotten about it because he had been with her made her feel better than she guessed it should have. She smiled again. "Well, come on. Get dressed, and I am sure we can get there in time."

Less than fifteen minutes later, they were walking into The Bronze together. Oz went immediately to the stage, where the rest of the band was waiting for him. He muttered an apology and picked up his guitar. Faith, meanwhile, was looking for a table. She found one a few feet away, and moved toward it. Buffy stepped into her way.

"She knows," Buffy said.

"Who? Knows what?"

"Willow. She knows. About you and Oz?" Buffy said. She was surprised to see Faith turn pale. Buffy wondered what it could mean. It was definitely not something she had ever seen Faith do before.

"H-how did she find out?"

"Pictures. Someone left a bunch of them in her locker. She was pretty upset. I… I think she may be after revenge."

"Really?" scoffed Faith. "And, just exactly what does she plan to do?"

"This!" hissed Willow as she stepped up beside Buffy. She held her hand out towards Faith, and Faith flew backwards. Willow then turned her attention to Buffy. "I told you to stay out of this! You should've listened!" Before Buffy could react, she was also flying backwards. She landed on a table, which promptly collapsed. 

"You!" screamed Willow as she pointed to Oz. The place went silent. Then, there were gasps as Oz's guitar exploded. Oz suffered the most damage from the explosion. His arms and chest were covered in splinters. He just stood there. That just made Willow even angrier. She raised her arm again, but Faith crashed into her, and the two of them fell to the floor. Faith sat on Willow and punched her in the back of the head. There was a flash of blue light, and Faith flew up into the air again. This time, she crashed into Oz.

Willow was on her feet again, and she looked at her former boyfriend and the new Slayer. She looked around, searching for something that she could use to torture them. Her eyes fell onto the spool of speaker wire that Oz had dropped earlier. She smiled as it started spinning, causing the wire to uncoil. The wire flew toward the stage.

Buffy sat up and looked around. She tried to get up, but something prevented her from moving. She watched in horror as the wire wrapped around Faith's neck and raised her into the air. The same thing then happened to Oz. Willow was going to kill them! Buffy tried again to move but found that she couldn't. She opened her mouth to all out to Willow, but her voice caught in her throat. She watched, completely helpless, as Faith and Oz stopped struggling. The two of them hung in the air like scarecrows. Finally, they both collapsed onto the stage.

"Witnesses," whispered Willow. "Can't leave witnesses." She looked up at the ceiling, trying to think of what to do next. She looked around and discovered that everyone was staring at her, petrified. She looked down at her feet. She heard a strangled cry, and looked up again. Buffy was still sitting on the wreckage of the table. Willow waved her hand, and Buffy was able to move again.

"Willow, please! Don't do this! You don't want to kill all of these people!" cried Buffy as she gestured at all of the people around her. Willow looked up at her, tears streaming down her face.

"You're right," she whimpered. "There's only one person I want to kill now." There was sorrow in Willow's voice and Buffy realized who that one person was. She leapt through the air, but was too late. Willow exploded in a ball of flame. Buffy collided with the ball, and expected to burn as well, but she didn't. It was as if the flames weren't there. She landed on the ground where Willow had been just seconds before. She looked around. People were running around aimlessly. Most were screaming.

"What the hell just happened?" asked Buffy.

"Vengeance," said D'Hoffryn as he appeared at her side. He shook his head. "It's a shame that Miss Rosenberg killed herself, too. She had a lot of potential as a vengeance demon."

"Get out!" screamed Buffy as she shoved D'Hoffryn. The demon disappeared and Buffy looked down at her feet. She knelt down and picked up the thin gold chain. It was Willow's necklace. Buffy held the necklace in her hand and looked around. There was no one left in the building. Buffy looked at the bodies of Oz and Faith, crumpled on the stage. She hung her head and cried.


End file.
